{First good view of Santiago}

{District outing in Santiago}

{stray}

{Familia Sandoval}

{Redeemer + stray dog}

Hola hola familia and friends-

Last week I promised pictures so that is what I´m going to do. I won´t write much except a few updates on the work and my health.

So this week kind of...sucked. On Monday I wasn´t feeling my best. I was super bloated and could tell something in my tummy was brewing. Tuesday was more of the same. Then Wednesday after I ate Almuerzo con Denise(A Peruvian woman with a 3 year old and no hubby, recent convert, SOO cool) I had my first terrible case of diarrhea. In a nut shell I didn´t leave the pension for the next 2 days. In fact I rarely left the bathroom. It was really bad. I was having really really bad pain in my abdomen, blood in my diahrrea, the whole bit. Strangely enough I never threw up. Never even felt like it. I don´t know if I ate something bad, drank bad water, or just got some virus. All I know is it stunk. However all is well now, and we´re getting back to work.

Quick note: The members are so nice here, but they all have their own ¨cures¨ for everything you´ve got. I was given 3 different herbal teas, 3 different various of hot rice and cinnamon water, 2 rice dishes, soda crackers, and a bunch of different pills. I don´t know what worked but the problem is gone

So after that little problem, not to much happened. It rained for the first time. It started at about 945 at night when we were in an appointment. We had to walk home from the opposite side of our sector in pouring rain. And, we decided to wear our suit coats that day just for fun. No umbrellas, rain jackets, nada. We were SOAKED. Loved it.

Pati, the pregnant woman from the familia Sandoval had her baby. Her name is Martina and she is super cute. Tons of hair. Pics to come of me and the family. Not any with Martina yet.

We were supposed to have a baptism Friday. Jaime, was all ready to go, had his interview, is progressing really fast, all that jazz. But he called us to tell us he couldn't get work off any earlier than 8, which is when the baptism was scheduled for. So we rescheduled for next week. I think it was a blessing because I was still really really sick and would have spent the whole time in the church bathroom. I´m at peace with Jaime's situation too, because he reads everyday and loves it, sneaks out of work to come to church without our prompting, and just has a new light about him. Great guy. Next week will be great.

Mom-

I can make my phone call either the 24th, 25th, or 26th. You guys email me and tell me when. I´m thinking not on the 25th if possible because I don´t know if call centers here will be open. I doubt it. Any time is good though. Just let me know. The phone call can be 1 hour. I can make multiple phone calls but it would probably be easier to just make one. You guys work out the details and let me know.

My spiritual thought this week comes from Luke 9:24. I read it during my personal study again. The thought that came into my mind was this. As a missionary what am I doing to lose my life for Jesus Christ? Not in the literal sense of death, but in the mind set of my actions. If the Savior were to come today, could I tell him that I lost myself for Him? I thought about that for a while and made a goal. I want, with time, to be able to answer yes to that question. My challenge to you is to do the same. Do the things you have to in order to say that you are a true disciple of Christ. The idea of losing yourself in Christ is so amazing to me. Want everyone to know how grateful I am to have a loving Heavenly Father who prepared a plan for us. Jesus Christ lives and made it possible for all of us to return to His presence.

Love you all and hope you have a great week.

-Charlie